


Calling Shurley

by GertieCraign



Series: My Dean Calls Me 'Brother' [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Angst and Feels, Castiel Loves Dean Winchester, Desperation, Destiel - Freeform, Emotional Hurt, M/M, No One Else Dies In This Fic, Our Cas Is In One of Them, Our Cas is with the Winchesters in This Universe, Post-Episode: s12e23 All Along the Watchtower, References to Major Character Death - Canon, Sad, Season/Series 12, Self-Sacrifice, Tags for Parallel Universe Fics are Really Hard, The Rift Opened Alternate Parallel Universes, This Series has a Happy Ending, This Universe's Cas Died on the Beach in Washington, if I did it right
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-11-09 07:25:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11099745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GertieCraign/pseuds/GertieCraign
Summary: Cas knows he has to try to get back home...to his universe. His family. But he needs to know this version of Dean will be ok.The Castiel who belongs in this universe needs to come back. There's only one person who can do that. And he's the last person Cas want's to talk to. But he'll do it. For Dean.





	Calling Shurley

 

 

“I’ll be out in a few minutes,” Cas shouted over his shoulder as he manoeuvred the open laptop and his mug of coffee through the door into the bedroom he shared with Dean.

“Plug it in. It’s almost outta juice,” Sam called up from the bottom of the stairs. “The cord should still be in your room.”

“I've got it, Sam.” He closed the door and took one step, then stopped. He set his mug down on the dresser, turned and locked the door. Letting out a long, shaky breath, he resumed his walk to the bed and sat sideways, positioning the laptop on the blanket next to him.

He had the link ready. He’d emailed it to himself and had the video chat software open. All he had to do was click the link Chuck had sent him and he’d be connected. To Chuck. Face to face...for the most part.

Cas’s mouth had gone dry. He tried to swallow, but it nearly choked him. He had to use his grace to clear his windpipe and unfreeze his throat. It seemed like every muscle in his vessel was misfiring in one way or another.

He held a shaking finger over the ‘Enter’ button. The cursor was already hovering over the link. The overwhelming urge to throw the laptop out of the window and literally flee the house by following suit gripped him and before he could actually act on that impulse, he stabbed at the button.

Seconds later, the video displayed a messy desk, an even messier background, and one arm holding a mug of coffee. Cas realized he had less than a second before Chuck would notice he’d connected to him and would roll his chair over to align himself with the camera. The angel clenched his fists and held his breath. He almost screamed.

Chuck’s bathrobe-clad body rolled into view. He reached with his arm to tip the laptop up enough to reveal his face. A nervous smile lit his expression.

“Hey! Castiel! This is...uh...quite a surprise. I...um...I didn’t expect you to message me.” He fidgeted in his seat and nervously rearranged a few items on his desk for no reason, before reaching to take a swig of his coffee. “It sounded kinda important, though. So, I...uh...wanted to...uh...yeah! So...here I am! What’s up...angel...buddy?” He said the last bit as awkwardly as possible.

Cas was frozen. He’d dropped his eyes immediately when Chuck came on the screen, and the harder he tried to lift his gaze to look at him, the more his eyes fought to avoid the screen altogether. His mouth worked, trying to form words. Nothing came out.

After a long, very uncomfortable pause, Chuck tapped his microphone as a silly joke. “Hey, is this thing on?” he said and giggled uneasily.

Cas again tried to lift his gaze, but couldn’t. He simply nodded in response.

“‘K,” Chuck said. “Um...you ok? You, uh...you look kinda...like maybe you’re...ya know...not.”

Cas managed to swallow, this time. His eyes flashed up to look at the screen for less than one second before they began looking literally anywhere else, once again. He cleared his throat. It sounded very weak, and his head hung lower.

“I-I’m,” Cas stammered, almost whispering. He cleared his throat again and forced himself to straighten a bit. It wasn’t much. “I’m bringing this before you on Dean’s behalf.” He swallowed again and closed his eyes, pushing out the first of what would be a steady stream of tears. “I ask for mercy, Father.”

There was an obvious pause, before Chuck giggled anxiously. “Whoa! Uh...yeah...I, um...I’m not a father. Ya know...not that I know of. I mean, I’m pretty sure…” He trailed off. Cas had forced himself to look up at him. It was a brief glance, but the angel had managed to express a level of pain and sorrow that left no doubt in Chuck’s mind that Castiel knew exactly who he was talking to.

Chuck sighed. “Yeah, ok. I don’t know how you know, but...I mean...clearly you do. Look...just don’t tell anyone, ok? I kinda need to stay below the radar here- ”

“I don’t belong in this universe. I’ve come from one parallel to this one. In it, you revealed yourself in order to face your sister when she was released from her captivity.”

“Ah…” Chuck said with a quick nod. “Well, that makes sense. I think I can probably guess which one of those universes you’re talking about. You went missing from a few of them. Most of you have gotten back by now, though. Not sure what the hold up is on this one…” He drifted off, seemingly deep in thought.

“The Ca- ” Cas said, but his throat tightened again, preventing him from finishing the word. He took a deep breath and let it out. “The Castiel who belongs in this universe was killed two months ago at the entrance to the rift between universes. He died at the hands of Lucifer.”

“Yeah,” Chuck said. He sounded regretful. “Yeah, I know.”

Cas swallowed again. He had to fight to keep from crossing his arms or gritting his teeth or doing anything he knew would be in any way disrespectful or disobedient or cocky and it was killing him. His entire existence, he’d been trained to be terrified and awed in the presence of God - a God he’d never seen or met or even heard before he’d revealed himself just over one year ago. He was almost as frightened as he was angry. And he didn’t want to beg. He wanted to scream. He wanted to wail. He wanted answers. But more than anything, he wanted to give this Dean what he needed. He couldn’t fail. This was the only shot he had. So, he shoved all of it down.

“I...I ask that you have mercy on Dean, Father. He is-” Cas choked back a sob, supremely irritated with himself for breaking so quickly. “His grief is more than he can bear. I fear that this loss is one from which Dean cannot recover.” He wiped at a string of snot that managed to seep from his nose. He looked at it, somewhat confused...unaccustomed to the need for such things as handkerchiefs or tissues. He gave it no further thought, though. This sleeve and part of the bed were already saturated with his tears. They’d been flowing freely for nearly a full minute, now.

Chuck sighed heavily and sat back in his chair.

“Please, Father. If it is your will that Dean should survive in this universe...please. Give him back his Castiel. He needs him.” Cas hitched his breath and barely managed to get the next words out. “He loves him.”

Chuck sat motionless for a long moment, just looking at Cas. He took a deep breath and let it out. Then he nodded. “Yeah, ok,” he said and took a quick sip of his coffee. “Done.”

Cas didn’t respond. But then, his head popped up. He stared directly at the screen. Directly at his Father. Chuck grinned.

“You heard me right. I’ll bring him back. As soon as you cross out of this dimension, I’ll regenerate the Castiel for this one. I mean...ya know...at this point it isn’t even a hardship anymore. I regenerate versions of you so often... I’ve basically set up a template for you. I just change a couple of parameters for each universe and then... Poof! You’re back.”

Cas was still staring at him. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t respond. He didn’t know if this was some sort of elaborate joke or if his Father had actually said what he thought he’d just heard him say. His mouth fought to speak, but nothing came out. Finally, after almost half a minute of complete emotional seize, Cas spoke.

“Thank you,” he whispered. Several more tears made their way down his cheeks. He didn’t bother trying to hide them or wipe them away.

“You bet,” Chuck said, not unkindly. He took another long moment to just look at his son. His grin became far less cheerful. “Why don’t you go ahead and say what you really want to say. Ya know...it’s not like I don’t already know.”

“Then what’s the point,” Cas snapped. His entire being, true-form and vessel, shuddered simultaneously. And then he scolded himself for being afraid. He had every right to be angry. To feel confused and abandoned and lost... Then he remembered Dean. “Forgive me, Father.” He dropped his gaze again.

“Nothing to forgive. I get it.” Chuck leaned forward and put his elbows on his desk. “And don’t worry. I’m not gonna go back on the promise to regenerate this Castiel because you got a little...snippy. I’m not that petty.” He winced and gave a tilting nod. “Most of the time. Look...son...I know you’re angry that I didn’t ‘give you a sign’, like you asked for. That I didn’t stop you from the course of action that resulted in so much destruction. But you gotta understand...I _did_ give you a sign. In fact...I gave you better than that. I gave you Dean. And not just once. Over and over again.” He sighed, looking at Cas with all the markings of a frustrated parent. But then he slumped a bit. “But you didn’t see it. And I knew you didn’t see it. I could have stopped you. I had my reasons not to. You just gotta trust me on that one.”

Cas clenched again. Trust is what had gotten him into every mess he’d made. Mainly because he’d trusted the wrong angels, humans, demons...everyone. And he hadn’t trusted Dean. It was the last part that hurt the most. And now his Father was confirming why.

“I never meant to…” Cas drifted, suddenly incapable of saying anything he’d always wanted to say if he ever had the opportunity to say it. “Is there any hope for me?” he settled for. “Any way for me to redeem myself to the angels; to my human family;” he paused and pushed out several more tears, “to you?”

“You made some mistakes along the way, Castiel. And, son, they were doozies. I mean, you’ve always been a ‘go big or go home’ kinda personality. And honestly, I’ve always loved that about you. A problem arises, and if it looks like nobody’s gonna step up and fix it, it takes, like, no time at all before your hat is flyin’ into the ring. It’s the whole reason I worked it out so that you’d be the one to rescue Dean’s soul. And to stick around as their protector and ally.”

Cas was staring at him again. He knew the chain of events that had taken place. He couldn’t see how any of that would have been specifically guided.

“Of course, it was me. I still have my ways to do things, Castiel. I was never all the way out of the game. Just 99.9999%. Or more.  Anyway, the point is...I knew if they had you, you’d move Heaven and Earth to save them. And then they could get on with saving the world. Unfortunately, you didn’t understand that at first. There was...a learning curve for you. I’m just hoping you’ve learned it, now. No more riding off on your own, shooting from the hip, trying to protect them without getting them involved. It just...doesn’t work that way. They need you. And you need them.”

A car horn sounded somewhere outside Chuck’s home. He turned to look and winced. “Ok,” he said, turning back to Cas. “That’s my ride. Gotta go. Look...just...go back to your universe. I’ll put the right Castiel back in play here. Dean’s gonna be fine. I’ll make sure he gets all the info he needs. Just...in the meantime...enjoy yourself a little. Get a little drunk. Eat some pie. Hang out with your friends, here. And make sure you get to North Cove by the time the rift opens. Ok?”

Cas nodded in stunned silence.

“Ok. Great. Gotta go. Bye, son!”

The screen went blank.

Castiel didn’t move or blink or respond in any way at all for nearly ten minutes.


End file.
